Single trigger mechanism for double barrel guns



Dec. 7, 1943. R. H. POINT 2,336,188

SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE BARREL GUNS I Filed Jan. 14, 1943 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I a ae/to i/wb,

Dec; 7, 1943; H. POINT I 2,335,188

SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE- BARREL GUNS Filed Jan. 14,. 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IRIS- I I-Ei- E Tarzan-'1 6 r r 20 f Patented Dec. 7, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFHCE SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE BARREL GUNS Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in a single trigger mechanism for a double barrel gun.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a single trigger mechanism for a double barrel shot gun, which is exceedingly simple in construction and may be readily substituted for a double trigger mechanism.

As is well known to those skilled in the art of shotgun shooting, single trigger mechanisms have certain advantages over the double trigger in double barreled guns in that, when shooting at the traps or shooting skeets, or even in the field, where the ordinary form of double trigger is used, the shooter, after pulling one trigger, has to remove his finger from the trigger guard and then place it in'the trigger guard again to fire the second trigger.

This takes an appreciable amount of time and unfortunately it may distract the attention of the shooter from the bird. In other words, when shooting doubles at the trap, as is well known, both clay birds are released from the trap simultaneously, and the shooter has to concentrate on the angle of fiight of the birds, lead, etc.; and if there are two triggers to the gun, he has also to remember to remove his finger from the guard after firing the first trigger, and then to place his finger on the second trigger for firing.

Another object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a single trigger mechanism for double barrel guns, and I have illustrated and described the trigger as being fitted to a double barrel gun where the two barrels are in the same horizontal plane, but it may also be fitted in the over and under guns.

The trigger mechanism about to be described is exceedingly simple in construction; may be readily fitted to most of the guns on the market; will be exceedingly strong and positive in action, with no possibility or chance of the gun doubling or, in other words, firing both barrels at one time.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a single trigger mechanism that consists of but few parts so that, when the gun is broken" or opened, both hammers will be cocked, while on the pulling of the trigger, the right barrel will always be fired first, the second pull of the trigger firing the left barrel.

In other words, although the single trigger mechanism fires both barrels, it is not complicated with parts to make the fire selective, but

'on the other hand, the right barrel will always fire first and then be followed by the left barrel.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a trigger mechanism which includes the pivotal mounting of a sear trip on the top of the forward body portion of the trigger, which sear trip is automatically forced to the right when the gun is cocked so that the right barrel will be fired on the first operation of the trigger, after which the sear trip is automatically thrown to the left and in position to operate the sear that in turn fires the left barrel.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a single trigger mechanism having a sear trip mounted on the trigger plus a pawl, that always insures the sear trip being forced to the right in position to fire the right barrel first on the cocking of the gun.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a single trigger mechanism that is positive in action and capable of being quickly and readily installed in most of the well known makes of double barreled shotguns now on the market.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain new and novel arrangements and combination of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

Referring now to the drawings showing a preferred embodiment,

Fig. l is a top plan of a gun breech with a part of the tang broken away to show the single trigger mechanism, the sear trip being swung to the left showing that the gun is uncooked or that the right barrel has been fired;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of the breech of the single trigger mechanism, part of the side wall of the breech being broken away to show a part of the sear and its uncooked hammer, and the trigger guard and other parts removed for clearness of illustration;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view taken from the right side of the breech, showing the sear in its elevated position and with additional metal on the hammer with which the outer end of the sear contacts, the hammer being uncooked;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows, the barrels having been fired;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the gun as being cooked and both sears in their operative or firing positions;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 2 also showing the gun in its cocked positionthat is, both sears or firing positions;

Fi '7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing the right sear as having been tripped and, of course, the right barrel fired, also the sear trip now moved over to the left for firing the left barrel;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail view showing the manner in which the yoke which supports the trigger is secured in the lower tang plate.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective of the trigger mechanism, including its attached sear trip, the sears being shown in dotted lines and the trigger removed from its plate for clearness of illustration; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective of the lower tang plate showing the springs that hold the scars against the hammers.

Referring now to the drawings and for the moment to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a breech l, with its upper tang 2 and the lower plate 3 through which fits a part of th trigger i and to which plate the trigger is secured.

It will be noticed that this single trigger mechanism about to be described may be fitted to a number of'the well known variety of double barrel guns now on the market, and that the present breech mechanism is just exemplary.

There is also shown in Fig. 2 the thumb lever 5 for unlocking the gun so that it may be broken to cook the hammers and also to put in or remove the shells. There is also shown the safety slide '6 for locking the trigger against firing, but the parts operated by the slide are not shown, simply for clearness of I illustration. Again, in Fig. 1 there may be seen the right hand sear l and the left hand sear 8 which operate the right and left hammers respectively.

In Fig. 2 a portion of the left hammer 8 is shown which is released by the sear 8 on an operation of the trigger (after the right barrel has been fired) while in Fig. 3 there is shown a portion of the hammer l which is released by the sear I when tripped, as will be shortly explained.

It might be mentioned here that if the single trigger mechanism is applied to a gun which has been previously fitted with two triggers, it will be necessary to weld a small projection of metal such as is shown at 9 on the right hand hammer l, the purpose of this metal being to permit the forming of a cove ifl therein slightly farther down the hammer so that the forward end I! of the sear l may fit within the cove when the hammer is cooked, thus holding the hammer in its cocked position until the sear is operated or released. In other words. it is necesin their operative -sary with my single trigger mechanism that the right sear (at its rear end) be slightly elevated with respect to the left sear and thus it is necessary to set the cove slightly farther down this hammer than the one in the left hammer.

In Fig. 2 there will be seen the cove 52, which is the ordinary position for the cove on this hammer 8, and this hammer, cove and sear do not in any way have to be changed on th installation of my trigger.

It will also be noticed in Fig. 1 that the rear end of the right hand sear l is slightly shortened with respect to the left hand sear 8 and rather than having it end turned inwardly, like the left hand sear, it terminates just beyond the pawl on the trigger mechanism, as will be shortly explained.

However, it is a simple matter for a gunsmith to shorten this right hand scar and also weld a small additional protuberance on the right hand hammer so that the cove may be positioned therein, in a position to permit the right hand sear to be slightly elevated at its rear end with respect to the left hand sear.

Of course, if the trigger mechanism is to be installed initially in a new gun rather than to be used as a replacement, the right hand sear and hammer will be initially made as shown in the drawings and the trigger mechanism will then function without any change whatever in the gun mechanism.

Thus, this trigger mechanism may either be used as a replacement with these few changes on the one sear and one hammer, or may be made to be initially installed in a new gun in which these changes are designed right in the gun.

It will also be understood that I have not shown the springs for applying the pressure to the hammers, nor have I shown the firing pins, trigger guard and several other parts-but, on the other hand, I have shown just those parts that are necessary to explain how the single trigger mechanism operates and how it may be fitted in a double barrel gun that was initially provided with double triggers.

Referring now more specifically to the invention and for the moment to Fig. 9, there is shown on an enlarged scale the trigger d with the usual finger piece 3, while on the top of the forward end of the trigger body I5 is mounted what I term the sear trip it which is pivotally secured as at I 4.

This sear trip is in the form of a plate extending rearwardly of the trigger and is provided at the rearward end with a downwardly extending integral inverted T-shaped end or head There may be seen a small slot ll in the sear trip plate l3 in which project the pin it which pin is fitted or secured in th top portion l5 of the trigger G. This lateral movement of the plate i3 is thus properly limited.

The inverted T-shaped end 56 extends clownwardly, as may be seen in Fig. 9, while on the one arm IQ of the T rests the one end of a spring 28, while the rear end of the spring 20 is secured to the lower tang 3 as at 2!, as may be seen in Fig. 2.

The other arm 22 of the inverted T will be just below the sear 8 when the sear trip it is in its leftmost position, when viewed from the rear of the breech. It will be understood that when the hammers are not cocked this sear trip IS with its inverted T-shaped end will normally be towards the left when viewed from the rear of the breech.

It will be noted that the body of the trigger is cut out to form a vertical wall 23, as may well beseen in Fig. 9, and there is a space 2 2 between this wall 23 and the forward end of the T-shaped block it which, it will be remembered, is an integral part of the sear trip plate iii.

In this space and pivotally secured to the wall 23 is the operating pawl 25 (see Fi 5) held by the pivot pin 26. It will be noticed that the pawl 25 has the relatively long arm 2'! that extends horizontally and there is also the other arm 28 which is designed to engage the pin 29 mounted in the sear trip plate l3.

It is the pivotal movement of this pawl 25 by the cooking of the hammers, as will be shortly mentioned, which in turn laterally moves the sear trip [3 in position to release (fire) the right righthand sear that permits the pawl to rise (one arm 21) and for the sear trip l3 to move laterally to the left, which then places the inverted (one wall) T head under the left hand sear 8 so that the pulling of the trigger again then releases the left hand sear 8 to fire the second barrel.

In Fig. 4 the pawl 25 is shown in its release position with the sear trip ['3 being swung to the left-that is, uncooked; whereas in Fig. 5 the forward ends of the sears will be both locked within their coves in their hammers and the pulling of the trigger will in turn raise the pawl to force the endof the sear 1 out of its cove, release the hammer and fire the right barrel.

Thus it will be seen that we have a trigger mechanism that will be elevated when the trigger is pulled and we also have a sear trip that is not only elevated but is swung laterally to the right on the cooking of the gun, caused by the rear end of the sear T contacting the arm 21 of its pawl 25 to in turn cause the arm 28 to bear against the pin 29 and pivotally move the sear trip to the right.

The moment the sear I is released and the barrel fired the spring 28 will force the sear trip plate laterally to the left, so that the wall 22 of the inverted T head will now be under the rear end of the left hand sear 8, so that the raising or pulling of the trigger the second time will release this sear from the cove in its hammer, and fire the left barrel.

Still referring to Fig. 9, it will be seen that the body of the trigger is slightly out out as at 30 and the inverted head of the T is positioned just above the resultant top wall 3! of the rear end of the trigger body.

There will also be noticed in Figs. 8 and'9 the yoke 32 in which is pivoted the forward end of the trigger body l5 and this yoke 32 in turn is to be rigidly secured to the bottom tang plate 3. In Fig. 8 I have shown two screws holding the yoke to the plate, but one screw or a pin might be used.

The yoke 32 has a, pivot pin 33 passing through its opposite ears and also through the body l5 of the trigger. Thus the trigger and its trip mechanism is pivotally mounted in the yoke and may be raised or lowered (pulled or released) with respect thereto and, of course, with respect to the bottom tang plate 3.

In Fig. 10 I have shown this bottom plate 3 with a recess 34 through which fits the fingerpiece 4' of the trigger and ordinarily it will be understood that this trigger mechanism is rigidly secured by the yoke to the plate 3 and I have shown them as separated simply for the sake of showing the position of the flat springs -35 which in turn bear against the forward ends of the sears I and 8, as may be seen in Fig. 2,

'so that when the gun is cooked these springs readily accessible for oiling, cleaning, etc.

Again referring to Fig. 9 it will be seen that the forward under portion of the trigger is cut out as at 31 so that the walls of the cutout will straddle the forward wall of the recess 34 of the plate 3, as also may be seen in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 1 the forward arms of the hammers are shown with inwardly projecting lugs 38 which, in turn, are operated by a hook (not shown) on the barrels to cock the hammers when the gun is opened as is the usual procedure.

Operation Having set out the various parts of the single trigger mechanism, the operation is as follows:

When the gun is openedthat is, the barrels (not shown) are pivoted with respect to the breech mechanism, the ears 38 on the forward end of the hammer are pulled upwardly to in turn pull the hammers 1' and 8 rearwardly until such time as the forward ends of the sears fit within the coves of the respective hammers, thus holding the hammers in their cocked position.

This, of course, is the same in all guns of a similar type.

The sharpness of the forward end of the sears and the depth of the coves, regulate the amount of trigger pull which generally varies from three and one-half to seven pounds, and in the present invention does not in any way vary from this standard type.

However, it is to be remembered that the rear end of the right sear l is slightly elevated at all times with respect to the left sear while the cove ID on the right sear is formed in a slight addition of metal so that this right sear may be in a slightly elevated position with respect to the left sear. This, of course, is necessary because the right sear is tripped from an elevated position with respect to the left sear. This elevation is necessary because the pawl that trips the sear is in a slightly higher plane than the wall of the inverted T head that trips the left sear and the right sear should not contact with this pawl after the right sear has been tripped and the sear trip has swung to the left in a position to operate the left sear.

When the gun was opened as just mentioned and the hammers cooked, the spring 35 pushing against the forward ends of the sears forced them into their respective coves, and the right sear 'I--that is, its rear end, contacted with arm 21 of pawl 25, and through its pivotal movement contacted pin 29 through the arm 28 and forced the sear trip plate l3 to the right, overcoming the tension of the spring 20, so that the position of the pawl as shown in Fig. 4 and the sear trip plate will now have changed to the position shown in Fig. 5, and the inverted T head of the trip plate will have moved to the position clearly shown in Fig. 6that is, the rear end of the sear 8 is now no longer over the wall 22 of the T head and the sear I will be down against the arm 21 of the pawl 25 and adjacent the side wall of the inverted T head.

Thus both hammers are cooked and the right barrel ready to be fired the moment the trigger is pulled.

Now when the trigger is pulled, the body of the trigger will be elevated together with the sear trip [3, which is over in its right hand position and the raising of the trigger with its trip plate will also elevate the pawl 25 that is secured to the body of the trigger, thus elevating the rear of the sear I and forcing the forward end H of the sear out of its cove ill and releasing the hammer l to thus fire the right barrel.

It will be appreciated that the pawl 25 is raised when the trigger is pulled as the pawl is bodily secured to the trigger and the arm 2? can never be in a lower position than shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This is due to the fact that the arm 28 impinges against the pin 29 and the right hand lateral movement of the plate i3 is limited by the pin it! within the slot it, the right hand movement, therefore, of the plate #3, limiting the lowermost position of the arm 27 of the pawl.

Then on releasing the trigger-that is, permitting it to lower, the right barrel having been fired, the rear end of the sear i will have elevated, taking the pressure off the pawl arm 21 and the pawl and sear will now appear as shown in Fig. '7. The inverted T head of the sear plate i3 will, due to the action of the spring he forced to the left so that the wall 22 of the T head will now be just below the sear 3, as shown in Fig. '7.

The pulling of the trigger now will again elevate the body of the trigger and the sear trip and the wall 22 of the inverted T head will force the rear end of the sear 8 upwardly to force the forward end out of its cove l2, and thus fire the left barrel, and the plate 93 and the pawl 25 will again be in the position as shown in Fig. 4.

The pawl 25 is similar to a bell crank so that the forcing down of the arm 2'! by the action of this right hand sear will always move the trip plate to the right, as may be readily seen from Fig. 5 while a releasing of the pressure by sear l on the arm 27 will again permit the pawl to pivot and the action of the spring 213 forcing the T head to the left will cause the pin 29 to swing the arm 23 of the pawl to the left to thus assure the forward arm 2! of the pawl to be in position to be immediately acted upon by the right hand sear when the gun is again cocked to again pull the sear trip to the right.

It will be seen in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 that the right hand sear is also filed out slightly under its rear end to permit a slight space between the pawl arm 2'5 and the sear when the sear is released from its hammer so that when the second barrel is fired the left sear will be tripped without the arm El of the pawl actually touching the elevated rear end of the sear i.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have produced an extremely emcient single trigger mechanism for firing double barrel guns. It will also be seen that this trigger mechanism may be secured on the lower tang plate of the gun and by slightly changing the right sear and slightly changing the cove of its hammer the mechanism may be quickl in talled and ready for use.

As heretofore mentioned, the trigger mechanism is extremely simple, and in reality has but two moving partsthat the sear trip and the one pivotal pawl, this, of course. being in addition to the vertical movement of the trigger.

Thus there is very little likelihood of any parts becoming worn or failing in action. It will also be seen that there is no possibility of the gun doubling, because the moment the right barrel is fired the sear trip will automatically swing to the left and until such time as the right barrel is fired there is no possibility of the sear trip engaging the left hand sear, as the pressure of the sear on the pawl will automatically hold the sear trip plate in its right hand position.

Finally, it will be seen that by simply changing one sear and one cove on the hammer, the single trigger mechanism ma be embodied in a gun that has been formerly fitted with two triggers, while on the other hand the gun manufacturer has to make but these two changes in the design of his gun to install this trigger as a stock model.

Also, it will be understood that the gun may be used to shoot singles at the traps by simply placing a shell in the right barrel, as the first pulling of the trigger will always fire the right barrel. Naturally the single trigger mechanism, however, is designed for double barrel guns for either shooting in the field or skeets or doubles.

It will be understood that although I have mentioned, illustrated and described the trigger mechanism as arranged to fire the right barrel first it will be appreciated that by reversing the position of the pawl when assembling the mechanism so that thelong arm of the same will extend to the left and the spring that bears against the sear trip positioned to force the sear trip to the right the left barrel would always be fired first. Thus, it is optional with the shooter when purchasing the trigger mechanism which barrel he wants to be arranged to fire first.

I am aware that there are a number of single trigger mechanisms for double barrel guns and I do not claim my invention broadly as such, but what I do claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a double barreled gun including right and left hand sears, a single trigger mechanism comprising a body having a finger piece, a pawl pivotally mounted on the rear of the body in position to release the right hand sear, a sear trip also pivotally mounted on top of the body portion in position to release the left hand sear, means on the sear trip engaging said pawl, whereby a cooking of the sears will cause the right hand sear to swing the said pawl and in turn pull the sear trip to the right and set the pawl in position for releasing of the said right hand sear when the finger piece is pulled, and means for forcing the sear trip to the left after the finger piece is pulled and the said pawl has released the said right hand sear.

2. In. a double barreled gun including right and left hand sears, a single trigger mechanism comprising a slightly raisable body having a finger piece, a sear trip pivotally mounted on top of the body and the sear trip adapted to engage and actuate the left sear, a pawl pivotally mounted on the rear of the body in position to release the right hand sear, spring means for normally holding the sear trip to the left and under the left sear, means on the sear trip and cooperating with said pawl for moving the sear trip from beneath the left sear when the gun is cooked, whereby a pulling of the finger piece and elevating the body and its pawl will release the sear engaged by said pawl and cause said sear trip to swing under th left sear due to the pressure of said spring means so that a second pulling of the finger piece will again elevate said body portion and sear trip to thus release the said left sear.

3. In a double barreled gun including right and left hand scars and a tang plate, a single trigger mechanism comprising a body having a finger piece, a yoke, said body pivotally mounted in said yoke, said yoke secured to said tank plate beneath the sears, a pivotal sear trip mounted on said body in position to actuate the left hand sear, a pivotal pawl mounted on the body in position for releasing the right hand sear, means on the sear trip for contacting with said pawl for swinging the sear trip from beneath its sear as the gun is cocked, and spring means for moving the sear trip to a tripping position beneath the left hand sear, after the right hand sear engaged by said pawl is released by a pulling of the finger piece and an elevating of said body and its pawl.

4. In a double barreled gun including right and left hand hammers and right and left hand sears, a single trigger mechanism comprising a body having a finger piece mounted between said sears, a sear trip pivotally mounted on top of the body and having a rearwardly and downwardly extending head, the said head adapted to normally extend under the rear end of the left hand sear, a pawl pivotally mounted on the rear of the body in position to release the right hand sear, the said pawl having two arms one of which extends outwardly beneath the right sear, a pin mounted in said sear trip and engaged by the opposite arm of said pawl, spring means for normally holding the sear trip under the left sear, whereby a cocking of the hammers will cause the right hand sear engaging the pawl to force the sear trip head towards the right and from under the left hand sear so that a first pulling of the trigger will bodily raise the pawl and in turn release the right hand sear, and a releasing of the trigger will cause the spring to force the sear trip head laterally to the left under its sear and be in a position to release its sear on a second pulling of the trigger.

5. In a double barreled gun including a sear for each barrel, a trigger body having a finger piece, a pawl pivotally mounted on the rear of the body and in position to release one of said sears, a laterally swinging sear trip mounted on the body in position to release the other of said sears, an inter-connection between the pawl and the sear trip, and the pawl holding the sear trip out of its firing position as long as the pawl is held under pressure by its sear, and means for forcing the sear trip under its sear for firing position after the pressure is removed on said pawl by a releasing of the first sear.

ROBERT H. POINT. 

